Blue Poison Dart Frog Viv/Terr Size HELP PLEASE

[zoezakella]

Hi all,

Well I am very excited as I have just purchased 3 Dendrobates azureus from a reputable breeder on Caudata which I am sure is on here aswell so now need a viv for them

Now I dont want to be upgrading my terrarium constantly like I have done with my tanks for my axies so can you lovely people please tell me what is the ideal size exo terra terrarium or any terrarium for my 3 dart frogs please! I want them to have as much room as possible to live happy lives but also want to be able to see them so guessing too big they might get lost lol!

Anyway any help on this would be much appreciated as frogs are a new thing to me and I want to get this right! Have done loads of research and am looking forward to planting up my first terrarium

Was thinking about one of the 45cm x 45cm x 60cm but is that too big or too small do they prefer width to height to keep their territories seperate?

Thanks for your help Zoe

[clownonfire]

Hi Zoe, and congratulations! These are wonderful frogs, many of our members and some moderators own a few.

D. azureus are mostly terrestrial, although they will use the climbing space provided. So lots of ground cover, and a horizontal tank in my opinion is ideal. A rule of thumb is 10 gallon per frog. Some will say 5 gallon. I say the bigger the better. After all, why not give them the best possible captive environment! And believe me, they will not get lost... Make sure you have a tight lid too. You may want to add some glass on top of your lid. It will help you keep humidity,

In a nutshell, high humidity: 80/85+. Room temperature. A nice moist environment. Lots of plants and leafage (bromeliads are always recommended. Philodendron, orchids, ficus, etc...). Make sure you add some leaf litter. You may want to seed springtails before your frogs arrive. It's a microfauna that your frogs will love to eat and that will also clean your substrate from dead leaves, dead bugs, etc.

Have you prepared your fruit cultures yet?

Eric

[zoezakella]

HI there and thanks very excited at my new adventure, hubby not so lol!

Thats great thanks so much for taking the time to respond this was exactly what I needed to know and from that I am thinking a long fish tank would actually be better than a terrarium am I right in thinking this from your advice or are both adequate as I wonder with the exo terra whether they keep a lot of humidity in have never used one before??

If 5 gall is the min then yes bigger the better, my 3 axolotls are in a 4ft as I prefer them to have as much space as possible and I want my frogs to be happy and healthy!

Have not started any cultures yet but am in contact with berksmike who has provided me cultures before for my newts but although I have paid for my guys I am not getting them until I have everything set up

Thanks for the plant and set up info really appreciate it, have I told you how excited I am

[berksmike]

Hi Zoe

Good luck with these when you get them they are great frogs! to keep humidity up I have pieces of glass or polycarbonate over the mesh on the top and that seems to do the trick!
I actually have 3 in the same size exo - have recently redone it so still bit of growing in to do:



Theres a little pool at the base of the waterfall which they love (as well as the little cave I built into the waterfall itself) but with plenty of points to leave the water and some plants (anubias and Salvinia Auriculata):



And one of the inhabitants - azureus are great darts, bold and hardy:

[zoezakella]

Heh Mike,

WOW stunning, love the set up and your frogs cant wait to get mine

Am pretty happy now that I have chosen at least the right size as I know you have lots of experience so appreciate the advice!!!

Will PM you later as need to order some more cultures asap!

How are your new guys settling in?

Thanks Mike

[berksmike]

Not bad thanks - just waiting to sex them and hoping for a 2.1 group. Will move a female on if I end up with a 1.2 group.

Let me know how you get on!

[zoezakella]

Not bad thanks - just waiting to sex them and hoping for a 2.1 group. Will move a female on if I end up with a 1.2 group.

Let me know how you get on!

LOL yes have heard females fight!! When can you sex them Mike and also how old are yours you never know we could swop if we end up with the wrong sexes lol! My guys are from Billy and they are 5 months old again unsexed!

[berksmike]

Classically the females are larger, plumper with more arched backs and the main difference described is the front toe pads. Compared to the back ones males tend to have much larger heart shaped front toe pads whereas females have a flat topped toe pad more similar to the size of the back toe pads.

This isnt hard and fast tho - when I had a breeding 2.1 trio of these darts a few years back one of the males would have been female by the toe pad rule but was only sexed for definite by observing him calling.